Horse Caravan Trading in Yunnan China

A small authentic town still rich in its traditions. A town that begs for more subtleness and is notably smaller in size compared to its neighbouring, commericalised and overly-boisterous towns of Dali and Lijiang. This is Shaxi. In three words (quite simply): It is great.

Shaxi; based in the Jinchuan country was a trading point for tea and horses during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and slowly prospered during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1369-1912). It was an important town for the Ancient Tea Route/Trail as it proposed a great geographical area for connecting Yunnan-China into Burma and Tibet; thus it was known as a horse caravan town (as part of the teahorse road).



Shaxi's market square "Sideng" is what holds the attention of the town. When visiting, I found it to be peaceful and charming...even a bunch of racous people couldn't spoil the decency and quality epitomised in this place. I purely loved it for sticking to its traditions and its ability to veer away from such commercialism (Note: as of April/May 2013!). The spacious square is surrounded by a small handful of independent restaurants and intricate hotels, not to mention its noticeable temple, a hidden museum and Chinese structures. The town itself has its famous water supply running timidly through it. At first hand, all I could witness under the concrete paving slabs was running "white coloured water" ? I found this to be a very odd attribute of the town but soon realised it was due to the plastering renovations taking place on a building located in one of the hidden alleyways. Shaxi's water draingage system was acting as its bathtub! Ah, the bliss of community.


Every town has one, including Shaxi...
Being so firm in its antiquity, Shaxi manages to retain its historic market town abilities by holding a Friday Horse Market where trading of horses, pigs and the like are sold/exchanged. The local market also takes places on this last weekday unifying the locals of the region selling their produce - vegetables, meat and noodles and whatever else. A market stall dentist cropped up a few times; however due to its unusualness, I'm sure the dentists have been papped a few times which led them to be anti-targeted/paparazzi'd by us tourists. Their refusal was definitely at the ready and firm and righteous as harsh as can be!

A brisk walk with a deed...
Staying in such a centrally located hostel: Horsepen 46, of this teeny town, was not only inexpensive, it was well-thought-out, rustic and managed an excellent system of offering a group-guided Saturday trek through the surrounding mountains of Shaxi. This trek was offered for free given that the trekker - in exchange, would act as rubbish collector whilst on the journey i.e. a community service. A little longer than I'd expected, the trek was gorgeous..climbing the peak of the mountain to find gorgeous historic Chinese settlements, derelict temples and to be at one with trees, pine cones and innocent fresh air. I found myself at the end of the trek not only a little worn out and trying to disguise my panting with smiles, but also contrastingly energised with a plastic bag of mixed rubbish (mainly cigarette stubs) in hand; reflecting my other six trekking partners. I found it a tad surprising that one week could accumulate so much rubbish for such an unknown trek in such an area unspoken of!? Well, it was a special deed, indeed!


Pedals
A long hilly cycle ride led us to the White Dragon Pool; a pool heavily preached by the local Bai people as "good water". So heavily preached, that a lone and sleepy security guard protects the pool in a protective and defensive manner. Visiting this pool, we passed many a many local Chinese villages, ancient bridges and a number of eagerly awaiting hills. Out. of. breath.



More photos to feast your perhaps curious eyes on below. I admit, they are a little on the dark side - I believe I may need a lesson in adjusting exposures/light capturing/ISOs?!

....Unspoilt and traditional. This is exactly what I was searching for old Yunnan. Xie Xie x



Note: On the downside, despite being 'unspoilt and traditional', it was discovered that a huge renovation was taking place in Shaxi's old town and it seems due to the speedy dedicated Chinese workmanship - that in a few months or so, that small town of Shaxi; so rich in its traditions and beautiful crusted construction, will hold a complex that might essentially 'stick out like a sore thumb' (very sad face). It's official. Lovely Shaxi will be seeing its very own 5* hotel and slightly commercialised shopping area. Oh dear...





>Shaxi town & around
























>Friday Marketday
















>Shaxi Faces










>May as well get involved myself..NiHao Shaxi friends!



Note: I've never had a dog companion and this doggy up here proved to be one that I felt really attached to for only 2-3 hours as well; not even! I was in tears upon leaving her...!

mydentity?

"Konnichiwaaa!", "Ni hao!", "Aunyeong!"


Nope!

I've recently been reminded of the identity issue..

When travelling in foreign countries as a tourist, I and undoubtedly many others have always dealt with that same recurring question: "Where are you from?". The common answer for me personally would be "..from England". Simple as it sounds...it isn't, of course. This question more often than not leads to ongoing chats, more questions, confusion, raises debates..and so on. The answer - without question, firstly depends on my mood and naughtily (and usually), I try to wangle my way and adapt the answer to the person in question.

I know there are lots of us out there, but I realised quite some time ago that being a second generation of a country and having two national identities has a whole host of advantages and disadvantages. If you don't know me, I'm British born & bred, but 'originally Chinese' i.e. parents emigrated from Hong Kong over to the United Kingdom. Just to re-emphasise again, there are quite a few of us out there! Anyway, some of those pros and cons are submissively detailed in an example I'll go on to share with you.



Switching Identity game
This example occurred back in 2009 in the northern-most region of India: Jammu and Kashmir in India and also the neighbouring region of Himachal Pradesh. The example talks of how answering such a question reflected playing a game with the spoilt option of being able to switch identities....


a short note about those two regions...

> Jammu & Kashmir
If you have been lucky enough and have had the chance to visit, you'd also find it hard to believe that 'Ladakh' and 'Kashmir' are both umbrellaed together (with Jammu, too) under this region of "Jammu and Kashmir". It is politically known as ONE REGION in India, though the differences between those two areas of Ladakh and Kashmir are astounding. By differences, I talk of the stark differences between the land and shape itself, as well as the culture, religion, beliefs, mentality, people and cuisine.

. The East is Buddhist Ladakh which sits cosily next to Tibet; much similar to Tibet, often being referred to as the "Little Tibet". A peaceful area with soaring mountain passes and owning the highest plateaus in the region.
. The West is Islamic Kashmir which is often referred to as "Heaven on Earth", boasting beautiful green valleys, fresh pastures and rich agriculture.

What is not different between the two is that they are both wonderfully extravagant by nature and belong to the high and mighty Himalayan range. The rest can be classed either as subtle or contrastingly powerful differences. Without question, both of these areas of one region are under heavy dispute and have been for decades. I won't go into that any further...I'm sure you're able to Google that.

Photos: Left > Ladakh, Right > Kashmir





>Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh region sits below Jammu & Kashmir and is famous for a few things, but most commonly for the traveller is its area of the Dharamshala. Here in Dharamshala is McLeod Ganj which is home to not only Indians, but the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, many Tibetan refugees and His Holiness The Dalai Lama. Now I'm sure we are all well aware of the Tibetan issues that are present in this era.





a little intro - getting it right
As I travelled through each of those regions, as suspected that common question cropped up... "Where are you from?". In McLeod Ganj - home of the Tibetans, obviously and naturally I responded, "I'm from England" . Only a handful of times I was given the opportunity or, in contrary, perhaps not given any chance to expand on my answer explaining the Chinese identity I aesthetically owned. Most didn't care, however a few times, I was frowned upon. Inevitable. And expected. So I was British in McLeod Ganj. The same applied in Ladakh. The Buddhist nature accepts who you are regardless of anything, however, I wouldn't say the Chinese are the most popular of nations. I trod carefully and stuck to the "I'm from England / I'm British" - which, of course, is true.



onto politically fuelled Kashmir...
From Ladakh, we slowly moved onto Kashmir where like I mentioned earlier, there's a stark contrast in the people. The Kashmiris were really politically pumped, all with an opinion arguing the state of Kashmir - a majority of them, that is. It so happens, we chose to visit the Jama Masjid (main mosque) of Srinagar; Kashmir's capital on India's Independence Day. Little did we know what would be in store, but having been exposed to a number of protests already, this didn't surprise me too much. After hearing what seemed like small explosions, we jumped off the local bus in fury and then stumbled upon an uprising between a group of young Kashmiri's and the Indian Army; who parade the streets of Srinagar on a daily basis.

The shouting and bellowing couldn't be ignored. Within a few seconds, large rocks were being hurled in our direction. *Run, Run!!* and hide! We followed a peaceful bunch into a hidden zone (shukria, guys). There was panic, fury, and boiled Kashmiris roaming the streets fighting hard for their independence. In our hidden area, we could hear the scurrying and bellows diminish....by then adrenaline was pumping.




bugger! too late to switch
Once it was safe to exit, I let the curiosity get the better of me and was magnetised to the bundled group; some comprised of a small film and camera crew who had just finished filming. I found myself talking to an upbeat journalist working for the Kashmiri newsroom. He and his friend explained the situation to us emphasising what had happened. Very smiley, friendly and chirpy as they were, they then went on to ask that jewel of a question, "Where are you from?", "England", I smiled naturally, caught in adrenaline not being aware of my answer. Instantly, the journalist's expression dropped and eyebrows scoured, he turned his head towards his friend and sharply forced, "Let's go". And without any form of eye contact, they immediately ran off and exited. Amazed at their sudden furious departure, I figured I guess I should have been Chinese that day...



tiny summary
In summary, there is less aggravation as long as I make clear I'm from the following countries in the following areas...
* In McLeod Ganj & Ladakh: I'm from England.
* In Kashmir: I'm from China.





Strategy
After this main example and another batch to follow up, I realise that both of my overpowering country identities are either liked or disliked in one region/close-by regions, let alone one country. Over the years, I've slowly learnt that a well-thought-out-strategy, and reading into the political and historical situations are required in answering such a question particularly in such a disputed region - that is, if you really do care about the response you are going to be faced with...



On this note, going off tangent slightly..however while I was in this region I stumbled across a small handful of Tibetan Muslims. Now that's a cool contrast!

VN wireisms

Those days in Vietnam in 2012. The area of Ta Van - bliss formations and...the ever-so discrete Wires.